August 2001
Why is it that some makes - Rover, Ford, etc. have serious rust / corrosion at this age, whilst other such as Volvo, Audi, VW, etc. show no sign or rust?
Why don't companies realise that, not only does rust depress resale values and reputations, but also, corrosion seriously compromises the strength of the car?
Crash tests are all well and good on new cars, but the average age of cars in Britain must be around five years ? most of us therefor drive cars 5 year olds and over? - So what of the crash worthiness of five year old cars? Read more
Why is it that some makes - Rover, Ford, etc. have serious rust / corrosion at this age, whilst other such as Volvo, Audi, VW, etc. show no sign or rust?
Why don't companies realise that, not only does rust depress resale values and reputations, but also, corrosion seriously compromises the strength of the car?
Crash tests are all well and good on new cars, but the average age of cars in Britain must be around five years ? most of us therefor drive cars 5 year olds and over? - So what of the crash worthiness of five year old cars? Read more
I know the typical towbar wiring lash-up very well! Can cause many problems in later life due to the scotchlok type connectors used.
Sorry to go on and on about the Rover 75, but it is equipped with a proper towbar spur!
Rgds
David
We all say that petrol is far too expensive at £3.50 a gallon. However we know that around £2.70 of this is tax.
Why then does un-taxed {save VAT?} engine oil cost £5 to £12 for a gallon?
What is the difference between supermarket oil {my local ASDA was selling a gallon for £2.99 recently} and branded oil at around £12.00?
I hear that garages will charge over £20.00 for engine oil {plus labour} when servicing.
Why are people prepared to pay so much?
I do my own oil changes with £3.00 oil. 300,000+ miles on my 1990 Montego and no problems yet.
Regards
Paul Whitehead. Read more
its a good point John. I used to use semi-synthetic (QXR) but it was still jet black at oil change time. I could have changed it more frequently but then the economics start to change. Are 2 cans of semi-synth and 2 oil filters very much less than 1 can of mobil1 and 1 oil filter?
Interesting to see the thread re the new Shell offering. I think HJ did report some time ago that ULS petrol gives less mpg than the previous offerings.
[company car drivers can go back to sleep here] Is it really worthwhile paying the extra for alleged premium brands? In the west midlands shell unleaded was on sale for 74.9p. Here in my SE area its 78.9p. Total and Murco (!?) can cost 79.9p here. There seems little rhyme or reason. Even the supermarkets don't always seem to be cheaper. Incidentally, remember when Jet was a cheapo? Read more
My car did 31mpg on Shell ULSP when it was first introduced, I mentioned something about it in the paper, and entirely coincidentally started getting 37mpg from Shell ULSP. I think the first batches of ULSP were under spec, the oil companies realised they couldn't get away with it, and they sorted it out.
HJ
Has anyone else noticed the two (at least) new/newish cameras cleverly hidden in the upright posts of the dot-matrix information signs on the eastbound M4 between jn 8/9 and the m25?
I wonder what safety considerations have applied here (ha, ha!) Read more
Oh David......
Its sheer economics. Fining speeders brings revenue in
Jailing theives etc costs HMG money in bed and breakfast
and four star HMP's.
Which would your rather have - cash coming in or going out?
Nil despernadum carburundum........
honest johns comments in saturdays telegraph motoring suppplement spot on about high prices of oil etc to make some rich and feel important. To keep my mobilo life warranty my a class needs the MB stamp at service time but no one said it had to be a MB uk stamp. So i have it serviced in france get the stamp and all for half price. The local dealer does not want even to discuss discount on servicing even though under the fairly bulletproof mobilo life warranty he would be likely to have to do the work if anything goes wrong though to date the car has been bullet proof with 82 mpg obtained recently in france!! Or am i missing something?? Also what about changing the engine oil and filter halfway through between services without touching the service countdown device? Or is the synthetic so good and the oil filter so fine on this common rail that i dont need to bother? Read more
Hi all,
Remember MB usually state that the engine oil is replaced at least once a year. I would follow that even if you do not do the millage. On those A class's the oil filter is only small. And may over extended periods collasped.
On the earlier 230e 123cars, they used a pop in paper catridge filter, and they suffered problems when left in for long periods of time.
Anyway time will tell.
Regards
Andy@www.mercedesservicing.com
My mark2 golf 1.3 is woefully underpowered, anybody got any ideas about how to improve it Read more
Point taken. I shouldnt post such long boring messages- sorry to all readers of htis group. I just dont like people who rip people off. I know a guy who bought an engine from Stiles for a few grand, and it blew the head gasket across three cylinders after 20k miles. Tim basically told him to go away. Not good after sales care. They is a lot of crap talked about these cars. I just thought i would put some of it straight.
BTW the VR6 is rather crap for tuning purposes- it has feeble inlet valve area. 2.8's make 165-170 and 2.9's make 170-175. VW's claim of 192 for the Corrado is rubbish, they are the same engine bar 70cc. Still a good, tough, road engine with a good power curve.
Ben
Hi everyone,
I have a 91 volvo 480 turbo. I got it a few weeks ago and it seemed ok then (Maybe l wasn't listening). Of late l have begun to notice a whine (like a short low braking squeak) when l am coming OFF the throttle after the turbo has kicked in. This happens around 3psi as the needle drops back towards negative boost.
I guess l could ignore it as it makes no noise when it spools up etc.. but l don't want it to be an obvious symptom of something terrible to come.
Any ideas?
Comments greatly appreciated.
Dan Read more
Air leaks can cause all sorts weird whistling and squeaking noises. I recently heard a turbo diesel with what sounded like a loose fan belt, a closer listen and it seemed like dry turbo bearings, it turned out to be a split inlet manifold gasket.
Anyone know where I can get a LHD Twingo covered? Car is UK registered but companies keep declining to quote as there is no UK equivalent vehicle. Read more
Thanks for the tip Matt. Great site that is a mine of information, including insurance recomendations. Got a quote from Privilege that is more than acceptable.
Why do the police charge car theives with the offence of 'taking a vehicle without the owners consent'? Why are they not charged with theft as you would be if you walked into Halfords and helped yourself from the till? Read more
> TWOC carries a maximum of 6 months/£5000 fine plus mandatory 8
> points or discretionary disqualification.
Oh, I was sure from memory that there was a potential for custodial sentencing. no? Maybe that had to get damage in for that. Oh well, its been a while.
I must check, but I don't think there is even a UT offence here. Here theft is usually defined as something you didn't arrange with the police first.
Browse
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mmm
another lot of factories i have been around...
you making newsprint or fine or bog roll ?
ha ha ha
dont stand in front of a rolling roll of newsprint (as i've seen some hospital cases do)
at least they dont clean the machines with petrol like they do in south america
ha ha ha